Landfill debate: Waste program up for El Paso City Council action

Workers compact trash Wednesday at the Clint Landfill. A lot of recyclable materials are still ending up in landfills in El Paso.

REPORTER

Cindy Ramirez

The city is considering delaying a solid waste flow control program that would require all commercial trash to be dumped in city landfills -- a controversial topic with strong environmental, financial and political implications.

"There's a lot of money in trash, and that's why it becomes so heated," said Ellen Smyth, director of the city's Environmental Services Department. "It's about the environment, the taxpayers, the community first and foremost, but it's also big business."

Flow control refers to the movement of solid waste from collection sites to publicly owned landfills, rather than to private ones as is now the practice in the city. It is also considered a legal approach for local governments to protect their investments in disposal systems by regulating how trash is moved and where it's ultimately dumped, Smyth said.

Delaying the program could be welcome news for residents who live near the city's existing landfills in Clint and the Northeast, which would have to grow to accommodate thousands of tons of additional trash. But Sunland Park residents who for years have protested against the mounting private landfill in their backyards might cringe that they won't soon get relief.

Pushing for the program's implementation are small trash haulers who see flow control as a way to get a bigger bite of the waste business. Fighting against it is one of the nation's largest solid waste services companies that owns the landfill where commercial waste is now dumped.

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Waste Connections, which owns and runs El Paso Disposal, also owns the Camino Real Landfill in Sunland Park and has fought against flow control in the past. Its contract with El Paso to haul commercial trash to its landfill accounts for more than 75 percent of its income, according to El Paso Times archives. The contract is set to expire in April.

Residential waste goes to the city's Greater El Paso Landfill near Clint east of the city limits. The McCombs Landfill in Northeast closed years ago, but could reopen to accommodate trash as needed, Smyth said.

Workers compact trash Wednesday at the Clint Landfill. A lot of recyclable materials are still ending up in landfills in El Paso.

Last Tuesday, Smyth's presentation to the City Council on the city's solid waste landfill options and the implementation of the flow control plan was postponed for two weeks. The presentation was set for the council's legislative review meeting, a work session for discussion on items that will likely appear on the regular council agenda at a later time.

"We're going to present options, give recommendations based on what we think is best for the community and get direction on how to move forward," Smyth said.

Sean Gillespie, president of El Paso C&D Recycling, last week told the council that the city has the potential but not the will to become a sustainable city. He criticized the city's contract with Waste Connections, calling it a monopoly that is driving businesses like his out of the city.

"Flow control has been delayed for the purpose of killing it," Gillespie said.

He added that the city could instead work to establish a strong commercial materials recycling program that would benefit the community, improve the environment, and give other businesses a more level playing field.

George Wayne, division vice president of Waste Connections, didn't return calls for comment.

But in a 2010 guest column in the El Paso Times, Wayne argued that flow control is "expensive to the taxpayer, comes with a high risk and has no guarantees." He said flow control would also "deplete existing landfill space nearly in half, costing taxpayers millions of dollars."

Up for vote

The most immediate issue is an ordinance first adopted by the council in 2010 that would have started the flow control program in 2011, but was later amended to delay its implementation to September 2014. The council in the coming weeks has to decide whether to move forward with the program or delay it again through an ordinance amendment as Smyth is recommending.

In the coming weeks, the council will also consider establishing a solid waste franchise fee, which would be collected from commercial waste collection and recycling companies. The money could be allocated to street improvements or other environmental projects, Smyth said, adding that she's recommending a fee of about 7 percent of the participating companies' gross revenues.

The council vote on the issues could be contentious considering the environmental, financial and even political ramifications.

Some of the companies that stand to win -- or lose -- by the council's decision also contribute to the elected officials' campaigns.

Wayne and other company officials, for example, donated to the 2011 election campaign of city Rep. Michiel Noe, who last week argued with Gillispie about the impacts of flow control. Noe, who didn't return calls for comment for this story, said last week that believed the current system was not only working, but was a huge benefit to the city.

Landfills

Moving forward with flow control would set off some preparation and expenses, and likely, public opposition over the need to expand the city's landfills.

If flow control is implemented, the city would have to reopen and eventually expand the 280-acre McCombs Landfill in the Northeast, which closed in 2005. Expanding it by another 200 acres would add 21 years of life to the landfill for a total of 58 years, Smyth said. She added that the city has already requested permits for expansion from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and approval is expected next spring. The expansion would be vertical, meaning trash would be allowed to pile up higher rather than outward.

Reopening the McCombs landfill would require an upfront capitol investment of about $18.5 million by the city, which Smyth said can be recovered within five years.

The city would also have to expand the 217-acre Greater El Paso Landfill in Clint by up to 1,220 acres. That would add about 80 years of life to the landfill for a total of 103 years of capacity.

Longtime debate

The flow control debate heated up in 2008, when the Camino Real Landfill was in danger of closing after its permit application was stalled in litigation. It eventually received a 10-year permit, which expires in 2028.

In 2010, the City Council rejected a contract with Waste Connections that would have paid the city $2.5 million a year and allow the city to dump 75,000 tons of garbage at the company's Sunland Park landfill.

City staff members at the time had recommended that the council accept the deal, saying it could save the city money. The council adopted the flow control ordinance instead, with some city representatives arguing that taking commercial trash to city landfills could create the volume needed to establish waste-to-energy and other environmentally friendly programs in the near future.

Smyth said many of the city's planned sustainability projects, from composting to alternative fuels and solar projects, require the city to guarantee a volume of waste material to ensure the financial viability of such initiatives.

"It can be done, but we can't do it alone," Smyth said, citing years-long discussions the city has had with Fort Bliss on the issue.

The U.S. Army a few years ago designated Fort Bliss as a Pilot Integrated Net Zero installation, a push to become energy, water and waste efficient. One of the identified strategies is waste-to-energy, a process of generating electricity by burning trash.

Smyth said Fort Bliss has been working with the city on implementing a waste-to-energy program, but would need the installation to move forward with its plans for the program to work.

"Flow control is only one piece of a larger environmental vision that Fort Bliss and the city share," Smyth said.

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